AIDS

Everyone knows that virus, but who really know it ?

Mecanisms of AIDS:

The HIV penetrates into our body, by sexual or blood way.

On its surface, proteins recognize CD4 receivers of T lymphocytes and settle in it. The membrane of the virus merges with that of the cell, to admit its genetic material and certain enzymes. This material is in the form of ARN as the lymphocytes' is in the form of DNA. To integrate the genetic material of lymphocytes, the virus transforms its RNA into DNA. It do it thanks an enzyme, an reverse trancriptase. Once transformed into DNA, the genetic heritage of the virus enters the pit of the lymphocyte thanks to another enzyme, the endonuclease. There, it becomes integrated into the genome of the cell thanks to an enzyme: the integrase. Thanks to cellular machinery, the virus' genome is translated into RNA and transcribes in proteins. Another viral enzyme, protease, takes care to end the manufacturing of proteins necessary for the manufacturing of new viruses HIV (proteins of the envelope, the enzymes). This process is called the maturation. These new viruses (containing a new stalk of viral RNA and new enzymes) are so released in the organism. They are going to be able to infect the other cells. The immune system is not effective any more. The body is not capable any more of preventing the proliferation of certain bacteria or virus, nor the appearance of tumors.

So, it the development of opportunist diseases that eventually pulls the death of the infected persons and not the HIV itself.

Nowadays, this disease undergoes a big popularity and numerous funds are intended for the researches to end it.

Researches are in various way:

         _The gene therapy: it consists in inserting into blood stem cells, at the origin of the immunizing cells, the gene which will protect them from the multiplication of virus. The protein coded by this gene inactivates two key proteins of the AIDS virus, preventing its replication within the cell. This technique tested at some patients in shown a tolerance and a number of viruses lower than at patients untreated.

        _A limit in the contamination: a person who takes antiretrovirals has 96 % of chances not to be contaminated by his/her HIV-positive partner. They can have several functions:

• inhibitors of fixation
• inhibitors of fusion
• inhibitor of reverse transcriptase
• inhibitor of integrase
  
  
  _Researches on a vaccine against the AIDS: essays on HIV-positive persons are soon to be thrown. It is the vaccine which aims at intervening at the level of mucous membranes. Indeed we noticed that certain women are immunized against the HIV, they cannot be contaminated. It turns out that these present antibodies managed against the envelope of the virus at the level of mucous membranes. We took this phenomenon as model for the elaboration of the vaccine.
  Fanny.B